Apple plans 50 new stores

Apple is planning to open as many as 50 new stores next year, including two branches in Shanghai.

More than half the new outlets will be outside the US, with new stores appearing in London and Paris. Other countries on the list include Canada, Australia, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

Another new branch should open tomorrow on Broadway, New York - at 28,000 square feet, the company's largest yet. Earlier this week, the company opened others at the Louvre, in Paris, and at Brisbane in Australia.

The stores planned for next year are also likely to be bigger than the company's existing outlets.

Apple opened its first store in 2001. The company now has 280 stores in ten countries, and they're very popular, with nearly 46 million visits during the last quarter.

Microsoft will no doubt be feeling a little outclassed. It recently opened its first two stores, in Scottsdale, Arizona and Mission Viejo, California.